Photo fox hunt.

My good friend John came over this morning for a photo fox hunt. He’s been meaning to come over here ever since last fall when I went with him on a coyote calling expedition in his hunting grounds. He has plenty of coyotes over there, but hardly any fox.

I thought it was pretty chilly here this morning at 18 degrees, but he had me beat. He said it was 9 degrees at his place! Kind of frosty, but we warmed up hiking to a few of my good calling spots. Saw tracks made by several different fox in the snow, and one cougar track, but all a day or two old. The first three stands drew a blank, and we didn’t see so much as a blue jay. John set up a video camera on each stand, and I did the calling.

We ate lunch, discussed the situation, and decided to try one more place. While John got ready with the camera I walked across a small gully and hung an electric caller on the branch of a small oak tree. I walked back and sat down with two of my dogs, and just that quick a gray fox came trotting down the ridge to the call. Dove saw the fox but Sadie didn’t. I held off letting the dogs go to give John a chance to shoot some video. He got a little footage on tape, but not a lot. Cover was tight, and the fox didn’t stick around very long. As soon as I saw that there wasn’t going to be a chance for any more camera work I let the dogs go. Sadie never really got started good. Dove took the fox for a little run, but failed to tree it. Oh well, it was a good morning and fun to be out. I’ve got to get John started editing video with the computer so he can post some clips now and then.